Pints and Flowers
by Hakura0
Summary: Various moments within the relationship of Hal and Tom, from the second time he asks him out for a pint, to the aftermath of their first time. Hal/Tom
1. Pints

Hal has been living at Honolulu Heights for over two months when he turns to Tom after work, during a lull in the middle of a television program. "…would you like to get a pint sometime?" He asks, and the question is every bit as awkward as the first time he did, in the cafe, and from the expression on Tom's face as he looks at him, he remembers that time far too clearly.

"Not goin'ta be some kind of attack again or somefin', is there?" Tom asks him, and he expected the question but it still stings a little.

"No, of course not," Hal tells him simply, and there's a moment's pause as Tom takes him and the question and the answer in, and tries to make the decision. He nods though, in the end.

"Alrigh' then."

Even as Tom turns his attention back to the television, Hal smiles, small and still somewhat nervous.

And it's not until the next night at the pub that he realizes what he intended of the invitation wasn't actually heard, and somewhere in the middle of the date it turns into just a night out. To a declaration of such when he realizes how far into it Tom even registers the idea of what it might have been. "It's just a pint," muttered low, with a smile that doesn't reach his eyes.

The night ends early and Hal finds himself in his room, listening to music, alone, and considering what grade of fool he must have been to not only consider the idea, but to follow through with it as well, and then to not realize that he hadn't even made his intentions clear. It's just as well though.

It's late, when Tom knocks on his door and then comes into his room, clearing his throat as Hal looks at him, questioningly. "I was jus' thinkin', and.. what was tha', really? At the pub tonigh'. It was alrigh', whateva it was, but wha' wassit meant t'be?"

Hal gives a smile that's almost a grimace, turning away from Tom and fingering the domino beside him on the bed almost carefully. "It's whatever you thought it was," he tells him, simply.

"Tha's not what I asked ya, Hal." Tom tells him, something firm in his voice, for all the expression of vague concern on his face. Hal shakes his head, uneasily.

"It was originally intended as a date, but…" He trails off to regain his focus, and before he can speak again, Tom has spoken up.

"Like I said, it was…alrigh'." Tom pauses, and contemplates his words for a moment before speaking again, his gaze down and slightly to one side. "…well, I mean, technic'ly it was prolly a sor' of rubbish date. Not that I've been on any o' me own, mind, but it seems like 's just bad manners to change your mind abou'it mid-way through. I reckon you owe me another."

There's silence for a moment as Hal looks at him, a small, disbelieving smile growing on his face. "…I'm…very sorry, Tom. In that case, would you care to join me again tonight, once we're off work?"

Tom turns back to look at him and nods, his expression almost satisfied, and a small smile tugging just barely at the corner of his lips. "Sounds alrigh'. Y'know… you really aren' good at all at the chattin' up, jus' like I said. Couldn' even tell you were askin' me out the last time."

Hal laughs, and Tom joins in a moment later.


	2. First Kisses

Tom initiates their first kiss. The pub is almost empty and they're in a corner of it, left to their own devices and mostly in the dark. He's not sure why, exactly, except that it's their second try at the date, and it's going no different than the first one, really and for the past ten minutes there's been barely anything but awkward snips of conversation and the way Hal hasn't taken his eyes off of him. He should know, he'd been watching him back. Had noticed the way he was looking at him, seen the half a dozen times that it had looked like his head was starting to fall forward that had been his starting to lean in, and he'd had enough of that really.

They both taste like alcohol, for all that they're both, actually, still nursing their first pints each. Hal's lips are almost soft against his, and he watches him as he freezes, eyes open because you never got a sure answer about what you were supposed to do there, did you? Not for when you were kissing girls, and certainly not for when you were kissing other blokes.

Hal recovers quickly though, and before, Tom guesses, he has a chance to question himself. Their second kiss starts almost tender, careful, and Hal's hand shakes as he holds onto the handle of his glass. It deepens, after, becoming more aggressive, almost hungry, and it's that realization and the heavy breathing, and the way Hal's mouth starts to part, that his teeth brush his lip that Tom pulls away. He lets Hal catch his senses, his heart pounding in his chest, and Hal kisses him again, just one more time, as light as the first before they go back to conversation, and their hands just touching on the table.


	3. Like Dominoes

Hal kisses him carefully, almost meticulously, a soft, careful trail that starts at his temple and curves down his cheek and jaw. He focuses on Tom, on the worn Henley under his fingertips and places his lips against his skin with a religious precision. His hands shake as he lays his first kiss on the underside of his chin, on his neck, and he can feel the blood flowing through him more vividly than ever, makes him more aware than ever of the beating of his heart, of how easy it would be. He hesitates for a fraction of a second along his neck before he places another gentle, careful kiss and tries to quell that base hunger.

Hal lines his kisses up like his dominos, in a gentle curve that ends at Tom's collarbone, and smiles just barely at the kiss placed on his own forehead as he lingers there.


	4. The Evening Before

Hal isn't sure which of them is more nervous as he stands in the doorway, and there's something ridiculous about that. About his being nervous about sex when the other party was a virgin. He didn't want to hurt him though, he desperately didn't want to hurt him, and he holds his hands behind his back, clutching something in his hands, and there's an internal struggle where he tries to decide if it would be worse to pay attention to all of the little out of place things in the room, or to ignore them and chance some part of him going rampant at that control surrendered.

"You can c'min, y'know," Tom tells him before he has a chance to reach his conclusion, sitting on the bed and looking up at him. He pats the bed next to him, and Hal hesitates for a second before he moves to sit. Anything to cut short the brief look that had been on Tom's face as he wondered if Hal had changed his mind.

Hal turns to kiss him, supporting his weight on the mattress with one hand, and placing the wooden stake that had been behind his back on the nightstand as Tom closes his eyes. His efforts aren't enough to distract him from the faint sound though, and his attempts to prolong the kiss are cut short as Tom pulls back and opens his eyes to look.

He can see the question in his eyes, even before he speaks, looking from the stake to Hal. "What's tha' for?"

"In case." Hal answers him, his eyes and tone serious, and he moves to put a hand on Tom's hand. " I want you to have it on hand if I-" He is cut short by Tom taking his hand instead, shaking his head briefly.

"Nah. It'll be alrigh' Hal." He smiles with such sincerity that Hal wants to believe him. To have that same confidence that he would be able to control himself, to refrain from ripping out the throat of the man he was quite certain that he loved. "We'll take it slow, yeah?" Tom asks, reassuring, and Hal can't stop a small smile beside his fears.

"I'd planned to, not that I've, ah, had much experience in that area. I want this to be special for you though, to be…good. I'm obviously coming into this a little rusty.." Hal silences as Tom squeezes his hand, kissing him with a little more ease than he had at first.

"Stop worryin' so much." Tom tells him after he's pulled back, matter of fact. "It already is an' we haven't started yet, so you can relax. Gotta be something you remember and we can go from there. I trust you. An' I'm defin'tely not goin'ta stake you in the middle of sex, cos there's no way yer gonna try t'eat me. Got it?"

Hal takes a deep breath and smiles, nervous but, slightly less than he had been a moment ago. "Got it," he tells him finally, moving to put a hand on his shoulder, the edge of his thumb against the skin of his throat, and kisses him again.


	5. The Morning After

Hal wakes first, and in his first moments of consciousness he is frozen by the contact being made, the warm weight of someone curled half on top of him. He cannot move and for a moment he cannot understand how he came to be in those circumstances, and the shadow of the previous night's contentment is chased away by his mind's rebellion of the idea. He feels out of place and in desperate need of a shower, but before he can move the weight curls closer and Tom makes a soft, comfortable sound.

His laugh is soft, quiet, and almost amazed. Almost disbelieving. He cranes his neck just far enough to kiss the top of Tom's head, along one of his scars. There's a foreign feeling there, under the growing agitation at the back of his mind, the little off things making the one, big, right one.

He waits for a few minutes, to see if Hal will wake, the novelty and the comfort of the situation bringing him patience. Everything that the morning meant, that the night had. That what had happened, and what hadn't happened meant. It was a small success, and one that he still couldn't believe but in the end he was still only..well, not human, but still only Hal, and he shakes Tom slightly, his voice a raised, insistent whisper. "Tom. Tom, you need to wake up." He pauses and receives no response. "Please."

"Mmm.." Tom responds, an arm draped over Hal's chest, and a leg over his. For a moment Hal feels trapped and completely helpless, and his eyes are almost desperate. He tries, briefly, to slip away, with no success, and there is urgency in his voice when he speaks again.

"Tom!"

Tom's head jerks up, and he looks around, far too alert for half asleep and concerned. "Wha's wrong?"

For a moment Hal almost feels bad for waking him, and seemingly worrying him, but he feels like his brain is going to short if he doesn't remedy the two dozen little things currently niggling at him. "I love you," Hal starts, and Tom opens his mouth to respond, but before he has a chance Hal shakes his head, just barely and continues, "And this is wonderful, really, and last night was completely amazing and I have no doubt that I will remember it for the rest of my life no matter how long that is likely to be, but-" He watches as Tom's face progressively falls and he speaks faster to get to his point before he manages to think that he's breaking up with him, taking a deep breath. "But I need a shower, desperately. So do you, if I'm going to be completely honest, and these sheets are going to need to be boiled, I think they're stuck to my leg, and-"

Tom kisses him, before he manages to talk anymore, a hand on his chest, and he holds onto it just long enough to make Hal lose his train of thought. Its a moment before either of them speak, and Hal cant help thinking that Tom looks like he's trying not to smile as he finally does, withdrawing his limbs to his own side of the bed. "Go'on then, I'll get in afte' ya."

"Thank you." Relief floods Hal as he scrambles to his feet, searching for something he can wear to the bathroom that it doesnt matter if he gets dirty. After a moment Tom calls his name, and he turns away from the clothing he was giving mournful looks.

"Hal. Love you too. Here." He catches the familiar pair of shorts easily and gives Tom a look that he thinks he's seen before on deer. Tom just yawns, covering his mouth before shrugging loosely. "It'll wash."

Hal nods, still uneasy but he puts the shorts on hurriedly and makes his way out of the room, barely aware of the look that Annie gives him, hair ruffled and shirtless, in Tom's shorts for the few seconds that she sees him between rooms.

He takes a long, hot shower, and finds clean clothes folded and set outside the bathroom door, and he dresses, returning to Tom's room.

"Goin'" Tom informs him as he opens the door, standing up and grabbing a towel to wrap around himself. Hal moves out of the way to let him pass, but when Tom kisses him he returns it with another nervous smile.

In the time it takes Tom to shower, Hal manages to change the sheets and get the dirty ones into the wash where they can be started easily once no one is in the shower, and turned his music on downstairs in his usual spot on the couch.

He's concentrating when Tom flops down next to him, leaning heavily onto him and slightly damp kissing his neck. "This is alrigh', issinit?" He asks, and Hal smiles once he's gotten over the sudden contact again, putting an arm around him almost uneasily. The music plays on though, and he relaxes, the smile becoming more easy, and he kisses him in response.

"Perfect," Hal says, and Tom settles in, his head on Hal's shoulder, and a hand on his leg, falling asleep with his arm around him and the soft classical music playing.


	6. Shopping

There are a lot of things that Hal has been since he met Leo, and started his routines. His solid effort to keep his darker parts at bay. There are more things that he has been since he lost them, since he met Annie and Tom. 'Complacent' has never been one of those things. He knows who the man waiting in the wings is, what he is capable of, in a way that he knows Tom and Annie _don't_. That they only know this other man, routines and rituals and superstitions built around himself like a cage to keep himself and all of his faces just far enough away from the world. He knows what holds the demon at bay because it is the only thing that has worked like this in the times that he's tried. He knows not to chance them, and he knows a million other things that he must do when he sees them, countless tiny rules that he must be sure the universe abides by.

It's because Tom and Annie don't understand that yet that he finds hiumself in the middle of a grocery store, carefully re-organizing a display of canned peas by expiration date and insuring that the labels face out perfectly instead of sinking his teeth into one of the _far_ too many shoppers going on their way. By the time he feels someone tap his shoulder, it's been ten minutes and he's forgotten what he was sent into the aisle for in the first place, and organized an entire brand's line of products.

"This is _insane_," he snaps after his momentary shock passes, whirling around with intent to give Tom yet another piece of his mind regarding his involvement in the trip. "And don't you _dare_ say a word about how long I'm...taking.." His vitriolic rant is cut short by the realization that he is staring at a little old woman and he backs up subconsciously, pressing against the shelves he's just been organizing.

She smiles at him though, unnerving him even further, and pats his arm as he stares down at the point of contact. "Working you hard in here deary, aren't they? Don't worry, you're doing a find job, just like my Bruce. Very thorough. I'll only bother you a mo', can you tell me where they've got the flour hidden these days?"

Hal blinks at her, mouth slightly agape as he tries to remember if he's seen the flour, "I don't work here..." said low as if she's caused him to temporarily forget that fact.

"Seven," he hears someone call, and Hal fills with a unique mixture of relief and annoyance when he realizes it's Tom. The woman looks over at him, and he continues on. "Flour y'were askin' abou' right?"

"Thank you, dear. Oh.." she tells him, and then puts a hand beside her mouth to tell him, quieter, "I think this young man could use a break. he seems very tense." Tom nods in understanding, and before he can open his mouth, she's already gone on her way.

Tom watches for a moment as Hal stands still with his eyes closed, back still against the shelves, and the bustle of the crowded supermarket continues on around them. "Hal..?" The question goes almost unnoticed and he slips his hand around Hal's, feeling a small flicker of something warm in his chest when Hal turned and looked at his face, not his hand.

"This..." Hal starts to say, his grip on Tom's hand purposefully tight, "Is your idea of _empty_?"

The shrug that Tom gives is one shouldered, though his expression is at least slightly apologetic. "There's a game on, or somefin', 'ow was I suppos'd t'know? D'you get the beans're ya jus' providin' the store wif free labor?"

Hal opens his mouth, but closes it again when Tom gives him a soft look, shaking his head before speaking. "I haven't made it that far. I'll get them." He tells Tom, thankful for the reminder, and edges away from the shelf, letting go of Tom's hand and straightening his clothes and an errant can before the two of them start down the aisle.


	7. Announcement

"I don't see why we need to make an announcement," Hal complains, low, as he makes his way down the stairs. Tom shakes his head from in front of him, turning to face him at the final stair.

"It's not all tha' is it? 'S jus' Annie. Tha's alrigh' isn'it? I mean, 's not-" Tom starts, his voice casual though his eyes are almost plaintive. Hal cuts him off with something that's almost a scowl.

"Of course not. I just don't see how it's any of her business, that's all."

"Who's business would that be then?" Annie asks, her arms crossed as she draws near them, nodding to the couch. "Off the stairs then, trust me you don't want to play on those."

Tom moves obediently to the couch to sit down while Hal turns instead, heading to the table he had claimed for his dominoes, and sitting down.

"I asked you a question," Annie tells him, voice firm, and he ignores her, opening the case with care and clearing away the specks of dust on it. She narrows her eyes but gives up as he lifts his first domino of the morning, whirling to face the couch instead. "Tom-?"

"..Hal..?" Tom asks, his gaze moving back and forth between the other two, cautious. Hal sighs harshly, his hand shaking as he places a domino that he's gripping too hard.

"Go on then," he orders him, his tone flat and his attention clearly elsewhere.

"Well..?"

"Righ'," Tom starts, sitting up a little straighter as he looks at Annie. "…well, first'ive gotta check. In the 'ouse rules-" Annie nods, and he continues, "Tha' part abou' not bringin' 'ome any girls.. Issat abou' makin' sure no'un sees a floatin' baby or no relationships? An' if it's the last one, does it jus' count the ladies, or blokes, too?"

Annie watched his expectant gaze and frowned slightly, considering, just for a minute, the possibility of seeing if she could actually read his mind if she tried. She decided that would be rude. "I definitely don't want anyone that we don't know we can trust one hundred percent in the house. It's dangerous, for Eve. Dating probably isnt a very good idea either, with everything that's going on… But why do you ask, Tom?"

"We're courtin', Hal an' me, " Tom says, finally, straight to the point. Somewhere into his first curve, Hal laughs almost silently at the word choice, and Annie blinks at Tom slowly, but then smiles at him in surprise.

"Oh yeah? Who?" She asks, confident that the idea the sentence had given her couldn't be quite right. Tom just looks at her for a moment before opening his mouth.

"…us. Hal'n me, like I jus' toldya. I figure tha's alrigh, iss'nit? On accoun' of Hal's not a girl, an he's living 'ere an' all. But I thou' I'd ask first, ev'n though 's not actually first, an' we're sort've together already an' prolly not goin' to stop if you say. But 's-" He's cut off by a pleased laugh from Annie as she claps her hands.

"It's fine, Tom," she tells him, and spreads her arms, "Come here-" he obeys, letting her hug him as he remains somewhat baffled at her reaction, and then watches wide-eyed and almost frozen as he watches her head towards Hal.

Tom doesnt have a chance to speak before Annie has made it over to hug Hal, and he winces at the sound of the dominoes hitting the table when Hal knocks them over in brief shock, and sits staring, concentration lost and frozen for a split second before he raises his voice, strained and irritated, "Annie!"

"Sorry-" she starts, letting go of him and moving to reach for the dominoes and undo the damage she'd done. "Just got a little excited, it's like the odd couple, and the two of you are just-"

"S'alrigh', Annie," Tom tells her, taking her wrist easily and watching Hal's face with momentary concern. "I've got'it. Hand wi' tha', Hal..?" He asks, carefully, and Hal lets out a long breath before nodding in his direction and trying to still his hand enough to put the fallen dominoes away so they could start anew.

"If I knew you would be so excited I would have had him wait until I was finished to tell you," Hal says, tearing his attention from the dominoes long enough to glance sideways at Annie. His words are lighter than the tension in his voice, a barely noticeable acceptance of the apology.

"…I'm thrilled for you. Really," she tells them, with a small smile, the apology caught. Tom glances back, thanking her with a quick smile before she backs off, and goes to finish getting breakfast ready.


	8. Changes

"Yer gettin' shaggy," Tom tells Hal, relaxed as he plays with his almost-dry hair. The two of them lay in the bed, freshly showered and dried for the sake of keeping them both comfortable. Hal can feel Tom behind him, his warmth, and he it's only the words that drag him out of what was the most relaxed he almost felt in a long time. "You'll need'an 'aircut."

"_Leo_ cuts my hair. Just _Leo_." Hal almost snaps, stretching his neck to move his head out from under Tom's idle fingers, edging away on the bed. The words weigh heavily on his chest, the misused tense, and he thinks it's been a long, long time that it has actually hurt to lose anyone. But running his own fingers through his hair reveals the truth in Tom's words. It was getting long again, and while there were some times that was appropriate for, he didn't think he was prepared to deal with that. Not when he didn't have any idea what it looked like, what it _would_ look like.

Tom's hand on his shoulder almost manages to still him, but he doesn't turn to look at him, though he does move when he feels him close the space again. "Me dad had long 'air once, a long time ago. I don't think it'd suit you." Tom's voice is casual, still, and the fact almost makes Hal laugh, but he's stopped by that weight on his chest, the reminder again when Tom's words turn soft. "Can't go t'a proper barber's but I've been cuttin' me own, and I could give your's a go, if ya'd like. I know 'm not Leo, bu'...he can' cut'yer 'air anymo', Hal."

"I don't want to loose _all_ of my hair." Hal tells him, and the remark comes out less sharp than he expected it to, all things considered.

"Mayb' Annie could do'it then," he suggests, and Hal nearly snorts.

"I'd rather you," Hal says, almost flatly, but part of him means it. By no means does he trust either of them with the task, but he'd sworn off of ponytails a few hundred years ago. "Later," he adds, before Tom can speak, his mind made up, "But if even _one_ person laughs, I refuse to go to work until it's grown back that Annie can look at me with a straight face."

The next evening found them gathered in the kitchen, a new trash bag with a hole cut out for Hal's head over his shoulders to keep the hair away from his clothes, and an old shaving kit and the best scissors Annie could find in the house laid out on the table. Annie herself stood less than ten feet away with Eve in her arms, watching with vague concern as Tom gave the razor in the kit a once over. "You're sure about this?" she asks Hal, and he gives her a look that, once upon a time, would have sent grown men running for their lives.

"I _was_," he tells her pointedly instead when it doesn't have the desired effect on her. "I wasn't aware the ordeal came with an audience." Beside him he can hear the razor buzz to life in Tom's hands, and he rests his hands on his knees, gripping them tightly as he closes his eyes, attention turned over to him. "...just get this over with."

His mind wanders during what must be far less time than it feels like, Tom and Annie's voices an anchor, something almost comfortable.

"...'s a bit shorter than when ya got'ere, bu'.." Tom starts to say, and Hal opens his eyes, finally, to see Annie looking at him thoughtfully with her head tilted, a smile growing on her fact that makes him fear until she speaks.

"...that's actually a good look for him," she comments, surprised, and he fights the bag to try to raise his hands and feel his head, Tom putting a hand over his to stop him. Hal ignores the halting, reaching up anyway to feel his hair.

It doesn't feel as bad as he thinks he's been afraid, and he wipes away the tickling loose hair where he feels it, fighting his way out of the trash bag and to his feet, without a word, Leo and his mirrors still sitting in the back of his mind. "...s'alrigh', issinit?" Tom asks, and his expression is enough to make Hal smile at him.

"You've got the job," Hal tells him, almost surprising himself, and leaning over carefully to kiss him while Annie grins somewhere behind him, and takes Eve out of the room.

They linger together, in the kitchen for a few moments longer before they part ways, Tom to relieve Annie of the baby so she could start dinner and Hal to his dominoes to reclaim control of his mind again from the reflections of a man holding up a handheld mirror. From what changed to lead into the moment that he was in now.

By the time they watch television, later, the two of them sitting close on the couch and Annie only marginally further away, he thinks he's alright again.


	9. Damp

Hal is listening to music when he hears a knock on the front door, and he almost ignores it, or calls for Annie, but she's upstairs putting Eve to sleep and the last thing he wants is half an hour of listening to her cry again.

"Who's there?" he asks, voice even as he turns off the music and heads to the door, cautious.

" 's _me_, Hal," he hears, Tom's tone almost plaintiff and he opens the door to find him standing there holding a pair of plastic bags, completely drenched. "I forgo' the key," Tom offers as way of apology and Hal takes a large step back, allowing him a wide berth for entry.

Tom enters, starting to make his way accross the living room, leaving a damp trail behind him until Hal speaks up, visibly bothered. "Stop. Right there. One moment!"

It takes a matter of seconds for Hal to climb the stairs, and Tom stands shivering in the middle of the living room, keeping a firm hold on his patience to keep from putting the groceries away as he can barely make out Hal speaking to Annie. In less than a minute though, Hal returns, loaded down with what must be half of the clean towels in the house, and a blanket on top of that, and he drops the pile onto the couch, pulling out what must have once been a beach towel and holding it out between his spread arms, keeping his gaze carefully on Tom's face, and using the towel to block the rest of him when he spoke. "Strip."

"_Hal_," Tom complains, his eyes flicking from the window to the stairway, his voice somewhat effected by the shivering he was still doing, "I'll get the drips, 'm not goin'ta take off me clothes in the living room."

"You're freezing," Hal tells him flatly, "and you're not getting a cold around me. I've asked Annie to stay upstairs, and the door is locked and the window frosted, and I promise not to look. Do it."

Tom sighs, long-sufferingly, but puts down the bag and takes off his coat, moving onto his shirt before he notices Hal still standing there holding the towel, eyes closed and head turned away. "Y'don' hafta do tha' y'know," he tells him, rolling his eyes briefly while he continues to undress. "It's no' like ya've never seen me in the nuddy before."

Hal doesn't respond, and Tom shakes his head, putting the last of his clothes in the pile and moving forward to take the towel he was holding off of him, startling him and taking advantage of the opportunity to hug him with the towel between them.

"Ha," he tells Hal, and there's a moment of shock before Hal actually moves, laughing just softly and wrapping the towel, and his own arms around him, his small smile only partially forced.

"Dry off," Hal tells him finally, tucking the towel in around the back and just barely kissing him before he can change his mind about the idea, Tom's lips cold against his. "I'll put the things away."

Tom obeys, wrapping himself up in the blanket once he finishes, and follows Hal into the kitchen where he's started to boil water, and kisses the back of his neck before going to curl up on the couch and wait for him.


	10. Full Moon

It's late when Hal leaves the cafe, thoroughly disgruntled and quite ready to get home and be done, once more, with the human race as a whole. He stops for a moment though, after locking up, and looks to the sky and at the full moon hanging above him. For a moment, he stares up at it with his hands at his sides, tries to take a breath that catches in his throat, and then continues home.

The house is quiet on the approach, and Hal announces himself, practiced as he moves to unlock the door. "It's me," he says to what turns out to be no one, the living room almost irregularly empty. There is something almost unnerving about the quiet, and he moves to hang his coat before starting towards the stairs, and then hesitating.

Something draws Hal to the basement door despite his urge to go upstairs and get changed outo f his work clothes, despite the things his day of work has left undone. He touches the door with a cautious hand, and from there he can hear the movement inside. The restlessness of the trapped wrewolf inside. He leans his head against it, listening more carefully, and the sudden bang against the other side of door shocks a short laugh out of him.

"Hal?" Annie asks, suddenly just there, and it's as normal as anything can be. "What are you doing?"

He draws away to look at her, as the wolf scratches at the door, his hand lingering against it for just a moment. "Nothing." he tells her, with a small tight smile, and he finally moves away from the door more fully. It's a moment before the wolf runs back down the stairs, and he smiles to himself again, before becoming aware of Annie's gaze. "...it's nothing, really, Annie. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to change my clothes."

Hal is almost to the steps for the second time that night when Annie speaks up again, behind him, her arms wrapped over her chest, and a small smile. "You were checking on him weren't you?"

"It was quiet. Excuse me." He tells her, his answer short before he continues upstairs. She doesn't follow him when he goes to take his shower or dress, but when he goes downstairs again there's a cup of tea waiting for him by his domino case. Hal picks the cup up, examining the table for marks before he carries it to the kitchen where Annie is waiting, and sits down almost reluctantly.

"You were smiling," She says, almost curious, and he gives her a very questioning look.

"And?" Hal asks her without hesitating, raising his cup to his mouth as he watches her. Annie falters for a moment, and he takes a sip of the tea before setting it back down. "Alright, why do you think I shouldn't have?"

Annie pauses again, before speaking carefully. "Well, there was a werewolf trying to break down a door and kill you. One who's usually your boyfriend?"

"Yes, and he's doing quite well, as far as I could hear. He's energetic for sure." His eyes weren't quite smiling, but he looked down a moment, and shrugged, eyes on the contents of his cup. "It's a fact of life for him, and aside from the transformation there's no reason to be upset about it. Especially not in this case. He's down there, and safe, the same as we are up here."

"On top of that, it isn't as if he's been fixated on the door, so there must be something down there to occupy himself with. Trust me, the last thing you want to see is a lethargic werewolf. It's a bad sign, but...he's fine, and I don't recall deciding to dump him once a month, even if I'm not stupid enough to go down there, or to expect the wolf to have knowledge of such. He _is_ just as important to me now though. That doesn't change, Annie, nor should it."

When Hal looks up at her again, finally, she's smiling, and something about her expression makes him look away. "You really love him, don't you?" Annie asks, and he holds onto the edge of the table as he stands up, looking at her.

"Do you have to ask?" Hal inquires, and a flicker of a smile crosses his face when she opens her mouth again. "Yes, I do. Thank you for the tea, Annie, and good night." He says, not unkind, but somewhat pointed, and goes to set up his dominoes.

Annie leaves him be for the rest of the night, to his dominoes and what else he didn't get the chance to do during the day, and still could. He stays awake the entire night, and by the time morning comes he is waiting by the door again, listening as silence dawned. In a motion that's almost practiced he takes the robe Annie had found somewhere to leave out so that Tom wouldn't have to make his way to his room naked, and opens the door to go downstairs.

It doesn't take long for him to find Tom, already coming to his senses in the middle of the floor, and he smiles, small, as Tom yawns. "I woulda been up in a mo'.." Tom comments when he sees him, working to get to his feet.

Hal helps him into the robe, offering him minor support. "I was awake, so I thought I'd come to meet you," he tells him by way of explanation, not quite a white lie. Tom kisses him, and he grimaces just slightly, after, even though he returns it. "Your breath is awful by the way." The words are edged in a fondness, that Tom almost misses, and when his expression falls, Hal kisses him.

"Ya just said..." Tom tells him with another yawn that's larger than the first.

"I think I'll survive," Hal informs him, not quite flatly. "Now let's get you to bed, and out of _here_." Tom smiles sleepily at the inflection on the last word, the familiarity of the annoyance with the basement's state.

"Alrigh', 'fore you start cleanin' down'ere all up, an' I just make anoth'r mess of it." he teases, kissing his neck, and the two head up the stairs, where Tom strips off the robe and curls up in his bed to sleep, pulling Hal down with him to only minor protest, wrapping his arms around him and falling asleep close, Hal following soon after.


	11. Darkness

They're sitting in the living room watching television when the power surge hits, and everything flickers before finally turning off, leaving them in pitch black. "Tha' you, Annie?" Tom calls out, starting to stand up, his voice almost low out of want not to wake the baby. He feels his way to the window when he gets no answer, and assumes she's sleeping. Outside, it's just as dark as it is within and he gives a small smile. "'S the whole block, 's alrigh'."

Hal doesn't answer from his place on the couch where he sits, temporarily frozen by the sudden darkness. The sudden memories of the kind of dark, the places it lived and the person he had been within it. He doesnt move, and doesn't respond to his name when Tom calls it out, remains silent until the footsteps draw near and he feels the couch move, the words short and almost reflexive. "Don't touch me."

"...I won'." Tom tells him, and the words came out almost hurt despite the fact that he knew Hal probably hadn't meant any personal offense. He sits down instead, leaving space between them and staring out into the black. There's another brief silence before he hears Hal take in a breath to speak, and he opens his mouth before he gets the chance. "Ya know wha' this reminds me of?"

"...what?" the question is quiet, an almost cold kind of distracted, and it only urges Tom on.

"In the woods wif me dad, it use'ta get dark li' this. When all the lights go' put ou' an' all..." He starts talking, and Hal just listens, closing his eyes as he continues the story and just focuses on his words. It's surprisingly easy to let Tom's voice, his story, chase away the old memories, just for the moment.

Hal reaches out, after a few minutes, groping in the dark for Tom as the story ends, his hand finally resting on his leg. "Alrigh'?" Tom asks, and he doesn't have an answer for him immediately, but he moves closer to him, until he's resting his head somewhere on Tom's shoulder.

"...yes," he answers, finally, and Tom rests an arm around him loosely, and curls ever so slightly in towards him. Neither of them speaks for almost a minute, and then it's Hal, his voice quiet. "Tell me something else."

Tom obliges, and Hal just listens against him until they both fall asleep. Annie smiles when she finds them there, in the morning, and drapes a blanket over them, wishing a photograph could capture more than half the scene before her.


	12. Eve

Hal does his best to avoid holding Eve after the first time, when he is drowning in grief and fueled by something else entirely. He remembers how far away it seemed her crying was coming from. The look on Tom's face, and the words. His own fear of himself, even as he slipped away.

That doesnt count as an excuse though, not to Annie, to Tom, despite all the evidence of exactly what he is. After all, the fact that it has been so long means somehow that he is harmless. Despite every evidence, the tasks he needs to fill up his life with to hold on.

He is afraid of Eve, of her noise and mess and the fact that someone is actually trusting him to care for this tiny thing. It lessens over time though, when his objections don't stop her being thrust into his arms.

Comfortable is never something that he feels around her, around almost anyone or anything, and it is his own skin that is the problem, his own mind. Tom is almost the closest he has come to that.

So it helps really, once he notices the way Tom lingers in the room when the two of them are together, most of the time. It's long after the two have gotten together that Hal thanks him, sitting on the couch and holding Eve as awkwardly as ever, half sure that she can sense his fear as she begins to wriggle.

"'S not 'cause I don' trust'ya, hasn' been for ages," Tom tells him with a shrug. It takes him a moment to get up and move to sit next to Hal on the couch, picking up a toy for Eve and holding it out for her with a smile. "Yer jus' not much've a baby person an' all."

Tom drapes his free arm around Hal's shoulder and kisses his neck with a smile. "Na tha' bad though, haven' had to step in on me own yet."

There is a part of Hal that couldn't disagree more utterly but he smiles, a little thin but partly real as he holds Eve out a little in his direction. "At my request then?" He asks, simply, and Tom manages to half bite back a laugh. "It has to be twelve by now."

"'S been ten minutes, Hal." Tom informs him, and Hal draws the baby back to himself almost disappointedly. Tom grins and shakes his head, "Nah, jus' messin' with'ya, he tells him, taking the baby and kissing Hal again. "Go on then."


End file.
